I should have thought. I ought to have wondered how he could suddenly appear in the bathroom like that. The door to my room would not open an inch, of course, and I had tricked Henri into the guest room only moments before, so if he had tried to come through that door I would have heard. Despite his disappointment (I should not have misled the poor boy as I did, but I simply had to take a bath! And since my father's prohibition, the only way I could was to do so when he thought it was someone else....) I know Henri would never have allowed a strange man to burst in on a young lady.

So there was no earthly way he could have gotten in. Yet there he was; one moment I was alone, the next I glanced up to find him standing over me, telling me that everything I had been told thus far in my life was just a lie and that I could never be happy in the safe little world in which my father wanted to imprison me--but all that would change if only I accepted his invitation to a ball two nights later, during which he would introduce me to a world I had only dreamed existed. And then he was gone, disappearing as suddenly as he'd arrived.

The lure of the unknown proved irresistable; late that night, I crept out of the house clad only in my nightdress and a cloak. Henri tried to convince me of the danger I would be facing, but by that time I had found a mysterious package that could only have come from the castle--a challenge I could not refuse. And so I deceived him again, claiming I could not do anything without my favourite bath sponge, then sneaking away once the poor dear went in to fetch it for me. I made my way through the dark forest, shivering in the snow and jumping every time a wolf howled in the distance, until at last I came to it: the place I had been warned away from all my life. Local legend said the castle had belonged to the same General Count von Krolock since it was built, back in the thirteenth century. Now here I was, the daughter of the village innkeeper, a guest invited by the lord of the castle himself. It was beyond my wildest imaginings.

I had barely five minutes in which to take in the magnificence of the stone carvings before the giant doors swung open, allowing candlelight to spill out onto the snow. Slowly I entered; the doors creaked shut behind me as a misshapen servant approached and said something indistinguishable. He then began to ascend the giant curving staircase; hoping that his distorted words were a command to follow him, I began the climb, hurrying so as not to be left without the benefit of the light he carried. At last he stopped and opened the door of a dark bedchamber; lighting but one candle to dispel the gloom, he disappeared before I had recovered my wits enough to question him.

Grateful that the poor wretch had at least paused to grant me the one candle, I cautiously examined the room in which I found myself. Its main feature was a bed large enough to sleep six with ease and old enough that I could believe it part of the castle's original furnishings. The bed-curtains were moth-eaten and smelled of disuse; similarly heavy drapes hid two of the walls. The fourth was bare stone. I knew not how I should sleep in such dismal surroundings, but I was perfectly willing to warm myself under the thick blankets, and soon exhaustion closed my eyes.

I awoke to a moment of panic at the unfamiliar environment, before I remembered where I was and the panic converted to a more thrilling fear. The curtains of one wall had been pulled back to reveal giant windows; the sun was already high--apparantly I had slept through much of the day. A breakfast tray had appeared on the nightstand. I ate, then dressed myself and arranged my hair as best I could without a looking-glass before emerging to seek out my host. When I stepped into the corridor, I could discern no sign of life. I saw no servants going about their tasks, heard no sounds of inhabitants echoing from elsewhere in the castle. Even the miserable hunchback of the night before had disappeared. For lack of other occupation, I set off to explore my new surroundings.

The place was scarcely less gloomy by light of day than when I arrived in the small hours of the morning. The curtains were tattered, the carpets worn, the furnishings out of a long-forgotten era. I stumbled across what could only be the ballroom--a chamber several times larger than any I had ever seen before, one entire wall composed of giant mirrors. I wasted several minutes foolishly preening before them, imagining myself dancing with the Count at the ball he had said would be held the following evening. At length the music faded, the glittering chandeliers dimmed, and I was once more all alone in an empty room. Sighing, I consoled myself with the knowledge that in little more than a day, it would all be real. In the meantime, I still wanted to find the Count, so I continued my exploration.

The sun was approaching the horizon when I opened a door to discover a stone staircase leading down into darkness. My curiosity was too strong; I could not resist lighting a candle and descending. The steps terminated at one end of a tunnel stretching well past the area illuminated by my candle. I glanced over my shoulder to reassure myself that the door from above remained safely open, then began making my way towards the heart of the gloom. I knew not how long I had been walking when the tunnel ended in a door, which opened into a large chamber. The musty smell and cobwebs in the corners indicated lack of use, yet the floor had clearly been recently swept. Confused, I moved closer to the center of the room, wishing to examine the large shadows my candle's light had hinted at. The large stone fixtures were elaborately carved on top; the distorted shadows they cast frightened me even more once I realised I was standing between two sarcophagi.

No sooner had I identified the room I had stumbled across as a mausoleum than his voice came from the darkness, startling me so greatly that I nearly dropped the candle. Far from reproaching me for having ventured so far from the public areas of his castle, he welcomed me to his domain and expressed the hope that I had slept well the previous night. Brushing aside my attempts at explaining my presence in the crypt, he led me back through the tunnel to the house, seeming to need no light to find his way. Along the way, he expressed a wish of introducing me to his son, and renewed the invitation to his ball the following night. Moreover, he took the opportunity to request my hand for the first dance--and to tell me he intended to dance with no one else the entire night! The honour he was doing me left me speechless.

He took me first to a well-stocked library, where waited a young man whom he presented to me as his son, a captain whose manners had much of his father's magnetism but who showed considerably less interest in me than the Count. I was then given a tour of the castle, more organised than my curious wanderings of the afternoon. With him showing me the rooms, I no longer noticed their dilapidated condition; his presence, his words lent them new splendour such as I had only dreamt of. It was only the second time we had spoken, yet he somehow knew me well enough to make a point of showing me the bathroom and assuring me I was welcome to take long, relaxing baths, with masses of bubbles, as much as I wished! Is it any wonder I failed to be as wary as perhaps I should have?

At length the misshapen servant appeared and said something I was unable to make out; his master must have understood, however, as he apologised for having to abandon me in order to tend to some business. First, though, he escorted me back to my room, where I found the most gorgeous red satin ballgown awaiting me! Never before had anyone given me such lavish gifts. I ought to have been more suspicious, but I felt so flattered by his attentions that I never stopped to wonder about his motives. And he was treating me very well, showing me the greatest respect. As he left me in my bedchamber, he very courteously informed me that the matter calling him from my side would prevent his rejoining me that night, and wished that I get as much rest as I needed to enable me to dance through the following one. Sadly, I found myself unable to sleep, and lay in that large, old-fashioned bed for a couple of hours before emerging in search of the kitchen and a glass of water. I had found it easily earlier that day, but somehow by night the entire castle seemed altered. I spent quite some time wandering the halls in vain, increasingly frightened both by the shadows the candle cast everywhere and the portraits lining the walls; while the latter had seemed innocent enough with the Count showing them to me, alone during the middle of the night I could not shake the feeling that they were watching me. Everything had been happening so quickly of late that I hardly knew what to think; the sensations--excitement as well as fear--had been overwhelming, and I felt as though my life was slipping out of my control.

If only I had realised how appropriate that sensation truly was. Yet I did not, so I continued to wander the dark corridors, growing increasingly lost, and chastising myself for the fear I foolishly thought was unfounded. I nearly fainted--first from fright, but then from an almost painful wave of relief--when I turned a corner to find the Count standing there. He swiftly calmed me down, before once more conducting me to my room. This time, secure in the knowledge of having again received his reassurances, I passed into a fitful sleep at last.

Once again the day was well underway by the time I awoke. Remembering my host's words of the night, I decided that a long, relaxing bubble bath would be the very thing to help me prepare for the evening's ball. I emerged from my chamber with trepidation, expecting to find the night's trasformation of the castle's hallways, but the normalcy I was faced with mocked me for having given it even a moment's consideration. Feeling the tension I had barely been conscious of drain from my neck and shoulders, I set off for the bath.

I couldn't believe my luck; it was even more luxurious than it had appeared at first glance. I began to regret not having waited for Henri to fetch my beloved sponge, but I soon found one nearly as soft as mine among the well-stocked shelves. Upon realising that I knew nothing of where to draw water, I had to go in search of the servant. Half an hour later, the water was heated and the tub filled, and I could begin adding an assortment of the fancy oils and scents. By the time I climbed in myself, the bubbles were thick enough to drown in. I was enjoying a nice, long, relaxing soak when suddenly the door swung open and in burst Henri! I reprimanded him for walking in on a lady as she bathed, but he merely asked if I had been harmed. I asked him to guess with whom I would be dancing at the ball, but I was still too excited about the idea of dancing with a count to wait for Henri to figure it out; I simply had to tell him. I then offered to save one dance for him, but he would not stop talking about our leaving the castle, casting aspersions on the Count's character. My attempt to change the subject by asking what he thought of the gown I'd been given failed; all he did before continuing his attempts to talk me into going away before the ball was glance at it, and dismiss it with the comment that a good muslin would have been far more practical! (Sometimes I wonder about that boy. I mean, really! Who in their right mind would wear muslin when they were the guest of honour at a count's ball?) Finally I was left with no choice but to cut the conversation short; my pleasure in the bath had already been spoiled by his refusal to recognise the honour being paid me, so I told him I intended to arise. Luckily, he took the hint and left the room; up until then, the thickness of the bubbles had kept the situation from being quite as indecent as it might have been, but that was as far as I was willing to go.

After drying myself off and dressing, I carefully snuck out while Henri's attention was directed out the window. Free of his meddling once more, I decided to return to my chamber and prepare for the evening's festivities. The winter days were short, and it would not be much longer before night fell. When the time came, the servant--the only one I had seen around the castle, oddly enough--came to lead me to the ballroom. I know now that it was to forestall any last-minute attempts at escape, but at the time I thought it an act of courtesy on the part of my host, and felt flattered. The servant managed to convey a request to wait before making my entrance; through the closed doors I heard the Count introducing me to his other guests. I was still blushing from his description when the doors swung open and I stood revealed, at the top of a large staircase leading down to the ballroom floor. My steps faltered under the weight of so many eyes--looking up at me were not only General Count and Captain von Krolock, but all of the Count's people as well. He smiled up at me encouragingly, and I began to descend.

As I slowly made my way down the stairs, my eyes never wavered from his gaze. When I reached the last few steps, his hand claimed mine, leading me past the eager stares of the other guests. When I had been presented to the company, he dropped my hand and stepped behind me. I could feel his body close to mine as he reached up and gathered my hair, reverentially placing it over one shoulder. Involuntarily, I leaned my head back as the warmth of his lips approached my neck; the spell of his touch had blocked all awareness of the onlookers. Then, pain. It was all over in a few short, agonising moments, and then the dancing could begin. The rigidly formal steps of the minuet gave me something to focus on besides what had just happened. I nearly ruined the pattern when a change of partners brought me face to face with young Henri, in the guise of one of the Count's people! Never knowing when to give up, he again tried to convince me to leave with him and his instructor, who was also hidden among the crowd, immediately. But how could I? And why would I want to, when the Count had been so good to me? Henri had faded to a minor annoyance, however; it was taking all my concentration simply to stay on my feet and continue the dance. Indeed, at first I didn't even notice when the Count and his guests stopped dancing to watch myself, Henri, and his elderly teacher in the mirror. I was glad for a chance to stop, though, and paid more attention to not fainting from weakness than what was occurring around me. The next things I was aware of were a bright flash, a howl of pain and frustration from the Count, and Henri's and the Professor's hands grabbing mine and pulling me out of the castle. Without my being consulted, we were fleeing through the forest, my strength draining further with every step, wolves howling in the not-so-distant night. When they finally judged it safe to rest, dawn was not far off. The Professor immediately pulled out his notebook to record the night's events, while Henri offered to keep watch so I could sleep. But first, he insisted on telling me what life would be like now that we could be together forever. Thinking how little he realised the truth of that expression, so like myself of mere hours before, I bent to his neck with a smile.

An hour or so later, we rose and went in search of a safe place to spend the day, so that when night came we would be ready to conquer the world.